$22 million rebuild of Highway 100 in Hales Corners will include roundabout, new signals

Drivers navigate through the intersection of Forest Home Avenue, Janesville Road and Highway 100 in Hales Corners. The circuitous intersection will be replaced by a roundabout.(Photo: Darryl Enriquez/Now News Group)Buy Photo

A $22 million project to rebuild Highway 100 in Hales Corners and install a roundabout for intersecting traffic on Janesville Road and Forest Home Avenue will start April 15, and take more than a year to complete.

Highway 100 will be rebuilt between Edgerton and College avenues, according to a news release from the state Department of Transportation. Project completion is projected for late September 2019.

A roundabout will replace a complicated 1960s-era braided intersection where Forest Home Avenue and Janesville Road converge in the landscaped area east of Highway 100.

The 60-year-old intersection was designed to handle traffic for a rural Hales Corners, village Department of Public Works Director Michael Marin said.

Modern traffic often congests the roads and its confusing configuration is the cause of occasional vehicular accidents, village officials said.

Martin admitted the roundabout will create consternation among drivers who dislike circular intersections. Martin points out that a roundabout at south 116th Street and Edgerton Avenue in the village has turned out to be a success.

Roundabouts don't have to be scary. Randy Asman, a traffic engineer with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, demonstrates how to use a round-about on Oshkosh's west side.
Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

When done, Highway 100 will have six lanes of traffic with new signals at Abbott, Parnell and College avenues.

Village Administrator Sandy Kulik said that during construction the project will create inconveniences for travelers on this major north-south thoroughfare.

Utility work is now being done along Highway 100 in advance of the April start date.

In 2018, traffic will be moved to the southbound lanes allowing reconstruction of the northbound lanes, according to the release.

The existing six-lane roadway will be restricted to four lanes during the reconstruction.

In 2019, traffic will be shifted to the newly reconstructed northbound lanes while the southbound lanes are reconstructed.

Traffic volumes are projected to grow, "during the life of the project" to as many as 48,800 vehicles per day on this stretch of Highway 100.